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Watch: Greek PM’s Dressing-Down at EU Parliament Goes Viral

With its financial crisis worsening every day, Greece is so close to exiting the European Union that pundits have even coined a new word to describe the fiasco: Grexit.

And as the clock counts down to Thursday evening's deadline for the Greek government to present its proposals for a third EU bailout plan, Greece's far-left Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras finally made it to the European Parliament, where he was granted a frosty welcome.

But with so much at stake, one European Parliament Member – former Belgian PM Guy Verhofstadt – decided to break the ice and "welcome" Tsipras personally.

In a now-viral speech laced with sarcasm, a highly-animated and visibly angry Verhofstadt lectures Tsipras on how to lead his country out of its economic meltdown.

"You have to downsize the public sector – I know, it is difficult for a leftist, but it has to be done!" he railed.

Verhofstadt urged the Greek PM to "come forward with a credible reform package. And that doesn't mean to say, 'Yeah I want to end clientelism!' … That means that you make a roadmap, that you make a clear calendar."

Among other things, he also mocked Tsipras for vowing to end clientelism and corruption, while his party engaged in precisely that.

"A few weeks ago 13 directors in the ministry of education had to be nominated – and by accident 12 were of the Syriza party ,and only one didn't know what his political affiliation is!" he fumed sardonically.

Meanwhile, Tsipras's government has extended his country's nationwide bank closures, along with the €60 (roughly $66) limit on cash withdrawals until this Monday – which is when the head of the Greek bank association, Louka Katseli, says Greek banks will officially run out of money.